The three officers had been convicted within the demise of Genivaldo de Jesus Santos, a Black man who died in police custody.
Three former members of Brazil’s Federal Freeway Police have been sentenced to prolonged jail phrases for the torture and demise of a Black man held within the boot of their squad automobile.
On Saturday, Justice Rafael Soares, a choose for the seventh Federal Court docket within the Brazilian state of Sergipe, gave one of many officers, Paulo Rodolpho Nascimento, 28 years in jail for the crime of aggravated murder.
Two of his colleagues, William Noia and Kleber Freitas, every obtained 23 years in jail for torture leading to demise.
The sentencing was the fruits of a case that started in Could 2022, with the arrest of 38-year-old Genivaldo de Jesus Santos.
The three officers pulled Santos over for using his motorbike with out a helmet, not removed from the city of Umbauba in Sergipe.
A bystander took a video of the encounter that later went viral. Santos appeared to supply no resistance because the three cops pulled him to the bottom and restrained his legs and arms.
The officers, nonetheless, had described Santos as “actively resisting”.
Native media reported that Santos suffered from schizophrenia and was heard yelling to clarify that he was taking medicine. However the officers lifted Santos into the boot of their sport utility car (SUV).
The video captured the officers as they lowered the boot’s door and held it shut whereas clouds of dense, white smoke poured from the automobile. Santos screamed, and his legs could possibly be seen kicking. A witness cried, ”They’re going to kill him!”
Rodolpho was accused of throwing tear fuel into the boot and serving to to carry the door. He obtained the very best sentence.
Prosecutors, in the meantime, stated Freitas used pepper spray 5 instances in opposition to Santos, whereas Noia performed a job in protecting the boot door shut whereas the tear fuel poured out.
An post-mortem later confirmed Santos finally died of asphyxiation. The three officers had been dismissed from the Federal Freeway Police.
Throughout the course of their 12-day trial, the courtroom heard from specialists who described Santos’s ultimate moments, spending greater than 11 minutes restrained in an enclosed house surrounded by poisonous fuel.
Tear fuel accommodates probably deadly chemical substances, significantly when deployed in massive doses or over lengthy intervals of time.
All three officers had been convicted. Santos’s sister, Laura de Jesus Santos, welcomed the result of the sentencing listening to on Saturday.
“It was a satisfactory result, although we are not happy with anyone’s misfortune. It calms us down, but it does not bring happiness,” she advised the information company G1.
Earlier this yr, the United Nations issued a report addressing police violence in Brazil. It discovered that greater than 6,000 individuals per yr have been killed in interactions with Brazil’s legislation enforcement for the final six years. In 2023, the overall was 6,393.
That could be a marked improve over earlier yearly totals. In 2013, for example, 2,212 individuals had been killed by officers.
Black individuals had been disproportionately represented among the many statistics. Folks of African descent represented practically 83 p.c of the circumstances, making them 3 times extra prone to be killed by Brazilian police.
